While we are still in the early stages of historical reckoning of the Bush years, something is rapidly becoming obvious: The state which persisted from 2001 to 2008, that was led by George W. Bush and his associates, was not the United States of America - neither legally nor culturally, as it was unbounded by any written law, public opinion, or even the basic values of Western civilization.
The USA existed at most in rump form, in state governments and bureaucratic holdouts within the federal government, but above and beside that was this other state - this bizarre, absolute monarchy with its own utterly foreign nature. As I am writing a book about the era, I'm wondering what name to give this foreign country that occupied American territory and institutions for eight years.
Now, this is not as trivial a question as it sounds for my purposes: I'm not simply wondering about an ad hoc label for convenience, but something that will stick in history. I intend to give this perverted state its Name - its one and only, that is memorable, evocative, and sufficiently profound to express its nature. The regime that ran it never saw fit to name itself, because they found it far too convenient wrapping themselves in the flag of the nation they sought to destroy, so it is up to history to unwrap the Lie and finally give it a name.
By far the most popular term floating around at the time was "Bushistan," but however memorable and evocative it is, I think it fails the third test - profundity. Its flippancy is undeniable, as its derisiveness, and I have no intention of playing the game of belittling the psychotic dominion that had crept into power while America slept. These were no mere thugs - they had their own alternate-universe ideology organized on the most Orwellian lines, and in the span of a few years had turned the world's paragon of democracy and freedom into a shadowy pariah state whose government structure was no longer clearly known.
So the name I ultimately give this state must reflect that, and yet still avoid shrillness or melodrama. It must have weight and form, yet contain the right set of oblique connotations; condemnatory, yet something that can be reasonably spoken of as fact rather than accusation; and it must be concise - a verbal scythe that moves through the accumulated propaganda as if through air. Haunting, but the more so for its banality.
I don't have to come up with this any time soon - I haven't even begun the main phase of the background research into my book - but it does disturb me that I'm completely at a loss when pondering the question. The best I've yet come up with is utter garbage: Texyzantium. Complete bullshit. But I'm also trying to avoid a term that's overly bald, like "Bushian Empire," because it doesn't really add anything to the synthesis of history.
FYI, while I recognize that Cheney held the reins of government in this shadow state, and Bush took little interest in details, it remains the case that Bush held ultimate power and occasionally overruled Cheney - Bush was monarch, Cheney was "executive minister" or something to that effect. So I'm not interested in any term that would simplistically imply that it was Cheney's country, because there was a lot more going on there than Dick Cheney's fascist savagery - there was also radical, apocalyptic fundamentalist religion and dynastic monarchism.
References to corporate power don't seem to be a fruitful avenue either, at least etymologically. "The Corporatarchy" is too clumsy to be effective. Despite the ugliness of what's being labeled, if the label itself is ugly then people won't remember it as well - their eyes will prefer to skip over it. "Colonia Bushiana" is a cute little reference to Commodus, but is too obscure and has the same problem as Bushistan.
"Homicideland"? See, I keep falling into flippancy. It's so hard to come up with a serious name, and yet it must be done if history is to be reconciled on the side of truth rather than bald-faced lies and denial. "Stupidfuckistan"..."The Kingdom of Psychotania"..."The Nazi Buttplug Imperium"...ARRRGH. Whenever I cancel the Fight Club smirk and try to come up with a serious name, I go blank. Well, I'll keep thinking about it.